Public record access often obstructed at Ohio universities, audit finds SPECIAL REPORT
WILL DRABOLD DANIELLE KEETON-OLSEN FOR THE POST AT OU
A.J. NEWBERRY THE MIAMI STUDENT
As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said,“Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” Similarly, the Ohio Sunshine Laws serve to cleanse government and public institutions of corruption. SPECIAL REPORT
REIS THEBAULT EMILY TATE EDITORS AT LARGE
When a Miami University student walked in to the Panuska Development Center — home to the Miami University Foundation — and requested a public record, the employee at the front desk scoffed and asked “What do you need it for?” Perhaps unknowingly, this employee’s latter response was a blatant obstruction of the Ohio Open Records Act, or Sunshine Laws. This record request was part of an audit of Ohio’s public universities that showed Miami to be among the least compliant with the state’s Sunshine Laws, which require
public institutions, including public universities, to provide records in a timely manner. The Miami Student requested five records at Miami University as part of the Ohio Universities Public Records Audit conducted in January. College students from seven of Ohio’s student-run newspapers audited 12 public universities, requesting records that are unquestionably public. Requests were made in person and requesters did not identify themselves as members of the press. Of those audited, Miami was one of only two universities whose requests did not result in a single case of compliance (the other university was Cleveland State). Compliance, for this audit, is either providing the record in
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a reasonable amount of time or referring the requester to the university’s legal affairs department. Robin Parker, Miami’s general counsel, handles all legal issues for the university. She declined to comment on record for this story. For three requests, auditors were asked to provide identifying information — ranging from their names, affiliations and intentions in asking for the records — which, under the Sunshine Laws, constitutes an obstruction of the requests. And, in two cases, auditors were told their requests could not be met unless they were submitted in writing. In fact, the law explicitly states that a request need not be
At Ohio’s public universities, nearly half of employees who were asked for public records failed to follow state law, according to results of a public records audit conducted by student journalists. In January, student journalists across Ohio requested the same five public records at 12 of Ohio’s 14 public universities. They asked front desk employees for records and did not identify themselves. State law does not require those who request records to identify themselves. Of the 60 total requests
auditors made across the campuses, school employees followed the law for 34. The vast majority of those requests were directed to universities’ legal offices without immediately providing the records, a technically legal response. Records were provided in only seven instances. The remaining 26 requests were denied or obstructed, meaning university employees asked auditors to identify themselves or otherwise made it difficult to obtain a public record. In direct violation of state law, nearly half of auditors were asked to identify themselves. Some were directed to legal offices after refusing
to identify themselves; others were entirely blocked from access to public records. In 2014, The Columbus Dispatch successfully requested one record from most Ohio public universities: the names of students who committed violent crimes. But two years later, in this audit, three-quarters of audited Ohio public universities denied or obstructed a request for that same record. Students at Kent State University did not comply with audit guidelines, so their results were voided. Northeastern Ohio Medical University was not audited because it is STATE AUDIT »PAGE 8
A.J. NEWBERRY THE MIAMI STUDENT
MIAMI AUDIT »PAGE 8
Holi, the ‘festival of colors,’ invites students Bernie’s world: What of all backgrounds to celebrate spring if Miami were free? POLITICS
MARY SCHROTT
SENIOR STAFF WRITER
CONNOR MORIARTY PHOTO EDITOR
Senior Karson Riley joined hundreds of other students in celebrating a colorful start to spring at the Holi Festival Saturday morning on Central Quad. EVENT
LAURA FITZERALD SENIOR STAFF WRITER
Delighted screams erupt from Miami University students as they pelt each other with water balloons and brightly colored powder. Red, yellow, blue and green dust hangs in the air, a pastel rainbow descending over the grass and smothering smiling students from head to toe.
This is Holi. Also known as the “Festival of Colors,” Holi is a Hindu festival celebrated in India, Nepal and other places with Indian and Hindu populations, but it is also celebrated by non-Hindus. The day features huge festivals in which friends and family throw colored powder at each other and spray each other with water. Junior Ashka Patel is pres-
ident of the Indian Student Association, which hosted the event. Part of the fun of Holi at Miami is celebrating it with a variety of people and friends. “It’s a lot more exciting here because there are so many people and so many people with different ideas of what the Hindu religion is and what Holi is,” Patel said. The ancient holiday has its origins in several stories
in the Hindu religion, but many people also celebrate it as a secular holiday, or as the coming of spring. It is generally a time for people to have fun and break down social barriers, since everyone participates, from old to young and from rich to poor. The version on central quad included a speaker at the beginning explained the HOLI »PAGE 3
The oldest candidate in this year’s U.S. presidential election, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, is appealing to the growing population of young voters by campaigning for reform on a key millennial issue: student debt. In 2015, national student loan debt reached a record high of $1.2 trillion, which is an 84 percent increase since the 2008 to 2014 recession, according to CNN Money. Sanders promised to make college tuition at undergraduate public universities free with the “College for All Act” he introduced in May 2015. Miami is a publicly funded state institution and would be affected by Sanders’s proposed legislation, if it were to pass. David Creamer, Miami’s treasurer and vice president for finance and business services, says it’s difficult to predict what would happen to the university. “It might be misleading to assume that everything that is offered today in each state — at least the tuition portion — would simply go away,” Creamer said. Junior Cody Philips sup-
ports Sanders and his plan, but agrees that it’ll be tough to carry out. “The way [Sanders] wants to pay for [tuition] is with taxes on the 1 percent, which would be really hard to pass,” said Philips. “The end-all be-all is that people need education.” Philips said, at Miami, the idea may have even more trouble catching on because some at the school don’t need to worry about footing the bill themselves. “Some people don’t try at all because they already know they are going to run their father’s company one day,” Philips said. “We are a very wealthy university with a high average income. Nobody thinks of the actual cost of what they are paying.” According to the Office of Institutional Research, 29 percent of the 2019 class has an annual household income of more than $200,000 — which puts those families in the top 5 percent of American households, according to CNN Money. “Less students [at Miami] are personally involved with how they pay for tuition,” Creamer said. “Though tuition is an issue that may affect less students here, that SANDERS »PAGE 5
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NEW CAMPUS STARBUCKS FINALLY OPENS
GREEN BEER DAY FORUM ADDRESSES STUDENT SAFETY
DANCE MARATHON RAISES OVER $40K DURING WEEKEND
BOARD ON AUDIT: MIAMI MUST MAKE TRAINING PRIORITY
WOMEN’S HOCKEY WINS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The Maplestreet Station coffee shop opened Sunday and will be staffed by student baristas.
Reps from OPD, MUPD, ASG and other groups convened last night to address GBD.
The event, put on by a national nonprofit, raises money for local children’s hospitals.
The Ohio Universities Public Records Audit revealed Miami’s troubling responses to records requests.
Miami’s women’s club team won its second national championship in three years.